Chinese TV animation reveals the DNA of documentaries

This fully CG promo spot uses DNA as an abstract representation of content on China’s documentary TV channel CCTV9, brought to life with intricate effects by London-based design studio Double G.

Double G motion designer Rita Louro explains: "CCTV9 asked us to create a channel promo that brought the cube from the CCTV9 logo into the heart of the visual creative. The DNA journey is made up of a series of elements, and each element is made up of a chain of cubes. In an abstract way, the cube has become a DNA molecule and the DNA strands combined form a wonderful and magical world."

Everything for the DNA spot was created with Cinema 4D, V-Ray and After Effects

Everything for the DNA spot was created with Cinema 4D, V-Ray and After Effects

Double G took charge of the entire project, from storyboarding to delivery of the final spot. "Everything was created with Cinema 4D, V-Ray and After Effects," says Louro. "Most of the 3D work was done using Cinema 4D’s MoGraph module and its effectors. All the objects and environments were created with the MoGraph Cloner object.

MoGraph was an absolute life-saver for us in this project

"We had to work with low-poly proxies. With this kind of workflow, we animated the hidden low-poly model and only that. We used cloners to make it out of cubes. Once all the cubes had been created, we used a few effectors to make the whole piece a bit more dynamic. MoGraph was an absolute life-saver for us in this project."

Words: Kerrie Hughes

This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 172.

Liked this? Read these!

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Deals Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Digital Arts and Design Editor Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.